You know the sound when a bird flies into your window? This did not sound like that. TTHHUUUMMMPP!!!! RUSTLE RUSTLE FLAPFLAPFLAPFLAPFLAP. Imagine standing bare-assed about to shower, and suddenly hearing what sounds like somebody throwing a softball at the window, just inches from your face. Startling, to say the least. I peeled the curtain back a few inches to see what could possibly be the cause of all this commotion. Just a few feet away in a neighboring tree, a juvenile Keel-billed Toucan sat looking confused as to why it had just bounced off the house. At only 10′ away, I could clearly see he wasn’t injured; his bill looked fine, his feathers weren’t ruffled, and he hopped around in the tree with ease. Then off he went again, flapping and trying his best to enter the house, this time through the kitchen window. He swooped around and landed on the railing by the front door, where he rested and pondered his next move. Slowly over the next 20 minutes or so, this completely wild animal systematically tested all the windows and doors to see if he could fly in and explore. In particular, our new friend seemed to like the back porch, which has a canopy over it, and lots of potted plants with plenty of bugs to eat.
If you guessed that we were excited at our new friend’s arrival, you would be correct. Jordana, always prepared, was busy lining up incredible bird photos and some fantastic video of this little dude up close and in person. We’ve definitely had plenty of Keel-bills on the property, but they tend to be much higher up in trees and never so close to the house. To see one literally a few feet away- close enough to touch if we had been motivated- was not what we expected on a lazy Saturday morning. It put quite the spring in everyone’s step!
Once the surprise and euphoria wore off a bit, and our friend was safely relaxing in a tree nearby, we got concerned that we hadn’t seen or heard any other Keel-billed Toucans in the area. We thought maybe this little dude had become separated from his family with the recent thunderstorms we’ve been having, or perhaps that he was hand-raised by somebody and had either been recently released, or escaped captivity. Luckily, we knew we had a great resource to help us figure it out: Belize Bird Rescue.
So what do you do if you find a bird acting funny? You call the experts immediately. We spoke with Nikki Buxton, Founder and Managing Director of Belize Bird Rescue. She requested we switch our call over to WhatsApp so she could make a few quick calls about our new friend. She also wanted a location pin of where the bird was found, and any pictures and video so she could attempt to assess if the bird was as healthy as we hoped. It was amazing to connect with a true wildlife steward who was willing to immediately prioritize an individual juvenile bird and offer to rehab it if needed. Luckily, she determined from our video that the bird was unharmed and in fact seemed well fed, with great plumage, healthy tail feathers, and no signs of injury. She also confirmed the bird was young- apparently blue eyes are a dead give away for juvenile Keel-bills. She noticed how unafraid it seemed of humans, which bolstered the theory it might have been hand-fed as a chick, or perhaps that it recently escaped captivity. She mentioned that she knew of two other juvenile Keel-bills that had recently been rehabilitated in our general area, but was able to quickly determine from her phone calls that the person planning to release those two birds hadn’t yet- this was a third toucan who we knew nothing about. They are by nature very inquisitive birds, so it was impossible to determine just from a brief encounter the bird’s likely origin story- he might have just been curious. The entire time, our new friend was hopping about and eating bugs in trees, oblivious to the great discussion and sudden excitement it caused by bouncing off the bathroom window. In honor of the excitement, the noise, and the general derailing of our morning, we named our new Toucan friend “Ruckus.” We followed down the driveway as Ruckus spent the next 10 or so minutes flying to various trees and bushes around our little slice of Belize, before eventually ending up in the top of a tall mahogany tree. What a strange and beautiful creature. I watched as Ruckus rested for a few final minutes before taking wing and disappearing in a bright blue sky, full of puffy clouds.
Belize Bird Rescue is the preeminent multi-species avian rescue organization for the entire country. They operate with direct support from the Government of Belize Forest Department and are a Belizean registered non-profit and non-governmental organization. This is an incredible group of people working tirelessly to ensure that Belizean birds have a place to go if they’re injured, need rehabilitation, or have escaped the confines of poachers. Their work is funded by the generosity of donors and grants, and a little support goes a long way. If you love Belize or you love birds, please consider supporting Belize Bird Rescue and their absolutely critical mission to protect Belizean birds. You can learn more and donate here. I know I will. Birds like Ruckus are counting on it!
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